Legal Ethics and Federal Taxes, 1945-1965: Patriotism, Duties, and Advice

Abstract

"We are professional men not mere hired hands."

In 2013 we will celebrate (or, at least, commemorate) the century-mark of the Sixteenth Amendment and the federal income tax. We should anticipate a flow of historical reflections on this first century of income taxation. These historical reflections on the income tax should develop our understanding of what has changed in the past century, and just as importantly, what has not changed, and will give us some idea of why one change occurred rather than another in any given case. It is likely that these reflections will focus on acts of Congress, nearly acts of Congress, and acts urged on Congress by enthusiastic supporters of one persuasion or another; the ebb and flow of economic theories and fiscal policies; responses to political, business, and technological changes; and, of course, important court cases that went this way and that way and, sometimes, the right way.
Yet the history of the income tax is, in large part, also the history of tax lawyers. Without these lawyers working to interpret the tax code, to advise clients on planning with the tax code, and to advocate for the rights of clients under the tax code, the income tax system would not be what it has become. The role of these lawyers, especially their own sense of right and wrong, is rarely the subject of legal histories. Economics, politics, and financial innovations may make better reading, and may be better at explaining legal histories, but legal history includes legal ethics.